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A picture of an annual Cicada, given to me by
Angela Medders, who posted it on her Instagram
account: beneath_the_trees_1924 if you
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What actually is a Cicada?
Cicada is a large superfamily of medium-sized insects called Cicadas (suh-kaa-duh-s). They're well known for the loud vocalizations created by the males to attract a mate, along with their bizarre life-cycle during which they disappear for sometimes decades before re-appearing. Globally, there're around 3,000 extant (not extinct) species of them, living on every continent bar Antarctica.
Judging by this, you might think they're pretty hardy insects, however, they have little to no physical defenses against the myriad of predators that hunt them. So, to combat this, in the last stage of their life cycle, when they emerge from underground and sprout wings ready to mate, the entire generation emerge together!
They know when to emerge by constructing little turrets or holes vertically out of the ground, communicating the precise weather conditions back to them. Most species prefer warm dry weather with no wind since their calls can travel better.
So, once the weather conditions are favorable (and occur at the right time of year), they emerge. In the space of a few hours, billions of them can be present in a single woodland, blanketing the trees which they'll molt on before flying away to find a mate. And, with so many of them, their predators are overwhelmed, unable to eat them all, ensuring the majority can mate. Then with their job complete, they'll all die in a matter of days.
The New Forest Cicada (Cicadetta Montana):
However, for the UK's only native Cicada, Cicadetta Montana (The New Forest Cicada) this was futile to the threats it faced. Thankfully still found in the rest of Europe, they're a stunning member of the Cicada family. They're around 3cm in length, about as tall as a paper clip and boast a mechanical, all-black body shot through with acid orange markings and topped with a pair of huge elongated wings.
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The glorious New Forest Cicada, sadly this photo wasn't taken in the New Forest
but in Lysice, Czechia, by horalkova_photo on Instagram, an amazing
photographer.
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Unfortunately, they've faced scores of threats over the years. Habitat loss and overgrazing meant there were less suitable places for their eggs to be laid. Trampling from livestock and humans meant their vital turrets to sense the weather with were destroyed. Climate Change, as always played an especially key role, tampering with the weather, sometimes preventing whole generations from ever emerging.
Over time, these threats intensified, to the point where the Cicadas were only believed to exist in the New Forest in the UK. Unfortunately, though, the last sighting of one was in 2000, plus it was unconfirmed, with the last definite one dating back further to the early 1990s. Tragically, many people now think they're extinct.
You might agree they're extinct too since a hoard of large, black, and orange insects perched on trees chirping must be hard to miss?
In actuality, though, there are lots of reasons why they could still be roaming the New Forest, and possibly even other wild areas around the UK, although that is less likely.
Reason 1: their strange life-cycle
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A Scissor-Grinder Cicada-image
donated by Victoria Smelko who
posts pictures and information
about invertebrates on her Instagram
account: insecta.a.la.vic.
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The reason why this is significant is that it stays underground molting and feeding on sap for up to a decade before finally emerging as an adult.
The final molt of a Cicada, after it's emerged
it'll climb up a tree to molt the last time-gaining
its wings and reproductive organs. This picture
was given to me by roena29 on Instagram, who
posts pictures of everything from Horseshoe
Crabs to Toads.
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So, it's not too surprising if there's an absence of sightings for several years since they would all still be nothing but grubs crawling around under our feet! However, the last reported sighting was in 2000, and it's currently 2020. So really if this is true we should've got another wave of sightings around 2004-2010. But we didn't. Why?
One contributing factor is that, like other Cicadas, they're only active in their final winged form for the blink of an eye. Exclusively for a few weeks around June, but only when the air is warm and still enough. Although taking into account the weather fluctuations as a result of Climate Change, this period can be much shorter for some years. Another reason is...
Reason 2: They're insects, not Elephants
It might seem obvious but at the end of the day, they're only a couple of centimeters long, and if you compare that to the size of the New Forest, is it really that surprising that they've not been spotted recently? There's not much awareness about them, and every year fewer people are showing an interest in nature (who knows why!) And whilst there are people looking for them, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, made even harder by the tiny window they're active as adults.
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A periodical Cicada, which stays underground as a larva
for up to a whopping seventeen years before emerging
as an adult and then dying only days later. Picture
again donated by roena29 on Instagram.
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This is why the chief sign researchers look out for is actually the call of the male Cicada. Although it is very high-pitched; right at the limit of what humans can and can't hear, with most adults over 40yrs unable to hear it. However, if you're interested in doing a bit of Cicada hunting and are over 40 do not worry! because the New Forest Cicada Project has actually launched an app that uses the microphone on your phone to detect nearby and record any nearby Cicada calls.
For more information and how to download it go to http://newforestcicada.info/app/
Reason 3:This has all happened before:
Although I think 20yrs is now the record, the New Forest Cicada has disappeared a lot before. Such as during the 1940s and the 1960s, with many skeptics even claiming it to be extinct only for it to miraculously re-appear. That could be the case again now, despite our technological advances which should help us keep track of them, they're still very small insects in a huge mosaic of habitats that is the New Forest.
Moreover, there are just too many other species that have gone 'extinct' only to be re-discovered later. (These are called Lazarus species, named after the character in the New Testament who was brought back to life.) Everything from whales to bats to seabirds, there was even a species of fish called the Ceolacanth (seel-a-canth) which we all thought had gone extinct along with the dinosaurs until hundreds pitched up off the coast of South Africa in 1938.
So are they still out there?
There is evidence out there for both sides of the debate. The main piece of information supporting their extinction is that there's not been a confirmed sighting for almost thirty years now. Assuming that the unconfirmed sighting in 2000 was false, I think that all the facts and figures we have do support that over the last 20+ years at some point the New Forest Cicada has sadly gone extinct.
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Imagine walking through a deserted, silent forest then suddenly catching a glimpse
of a cluster of these things singing on a branch just above your head-lets hope
one day it happens to people in the New Forest again. Image again donated by
@horalkova_photo on Instagram. (It was for a good cause!)
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My personal opinion is that there are too many of these species for us to say that something is really gone forever. Plus, there are all of these unconfirmed sightings out there; it's even believed that around 2010, fresh Cicada Turrets might've been found in the New Forest. Although it is only briefly touched upon and isn't confirmed yet, you never know.
Maybe out there somewhere, in a deserted forest clearing, there are still New Forest Cicadas filling the air with their song.
